Fiberevolution has a cute video from EPB, formerly the Electric Power Board, of Chattanooga Tennessee, i.e. the publicly owned electric company. Check out the first 45 seconds where they graphically make the case for municipal fiber. Too bad they are just at the beginning of what promises to be a long legal battle.
As with many other such entities, EPB started in the 1930s when local residents felt they weren't getting electric service as rapidly as they wanted, and were prepared to commit public funds to benefit their local community – the same argument for local electric projects then and local fiber projects today.
A non-profit agency of the City of Chattanooga, EPB was established in 1935 for the sole purpose of providing electric power to the people of the greater Chattanooga area.
EPB got into the telecom business in 2000 and started building to business premises in 2002. Now, they have a plan for FTTH, to be supported by triple play services. It's been approved by their board and is due for a City Council vote today.
In a replay of electrification politics of the 1930s, there are strong protests and lawsuits from local and regional Cable TV interests. There's already legislation in place to at least partially block such efforts. As Stacey Briggs, executive director of the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association, puts it:
In 1999, my organization, the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association, worked with Tennessee’s municipal electric distributors, including EPB, to craft the laws pertaining to municipal entry into the cable and Internet business. The laws that resulted are intended to protect the public and to ensure that public assets are not misused.
I.e. the incumbents got state laws enacted that slow down local FTTH, at a minimum, by providing grounds for lawsuits.
Some time ago, Susan Crawford pointed to parallels with electrification in the US in the 1930s, which led me to read other bits of that history. Much as I hate to admit it, the electrification experience only partly supports my position, i.e. that local municipalities should be given free reign to do what they like. In fact, what worked for rural electrification in the US was not just permission, but active Federal support in the form of the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) which loaned money to local cooperatives, provided advice and gave them cover w.r.t. lawsuits by investor-owned-utilities.
Today, in the US, we have state and national laws and regulations that slow municipal and/or cooperative bodies wanting to provide services or even access the right of way. If electrification is any indicator, we're in need of major policy changes at every level...
Update: Chattanooga Council Approves EPB Fiber Plan
See: http://www.newschannel9.com/articles/epb_963207___article.html/council_fiber.html
or: http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_114032.asp
So that's one step forward, but it's still a five year plan. Funding plans require a new bond issue and the lawsuits have only just begun...
Posted by: brough | September 25, 2007 at 08:48 PM
The problem with the US municipality FTTH projects is that they try to emulate the old telco business model, i.e. bundle access with services. This directly interferes with the market and displaces private investment. Municipalities should go for a pure infrastructure play and stay out of the service business, where they have neither business know-how nor a lack of commercial alternatives.
In this case the European Open Access business model and the rules about non-distortion of markets with state funding is the right way to go.
Posted by: Zed | September 27, 2007 at 04:24 AM